Monthly Archives: May 2015

Obstetric conditions associated with the need for blood transfusion must be managed carefully in a multidisciplinary team, states the latest guidance published today by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

More than 5 million children in Europe have been born as a result of assisted reproductive technologies, yet many European countries have regulations that restrict different aspects of these technologies. The result is that European women travel elsewhere to get services that are not currently available in their home countries. Now, the Norwegian Biotechnology Council is recommending that egg donation be made legal in Norway.

A program to improve pain control during labor at one of Ghana’s largest maternity units greatly increased the use of safe and effective spinal analgesia for women undergoing cesarean section, reports a new article.

The importance of the umbilical cord for both the fetus and for newborn infants was demonstrated by researchers several years ago, in a study that received great international acclaim. In a follow-up study, the researchers have now been able to show an association between delayed cord clamping (DCC) and children’s fine motor skills at the age of four years, especially in boys.

Anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder doubles the risk of peripartum cardiomyopathy during childbirth, while obesity leads to a 1.7-fold increase, researchers report. Women with common pregnancy-related symptoms such as shortness of breath and leg swelling plus five PPCM risk factors could benefit from screening, the experts say.

Living in a city with a high level of vehicle traffic or close to a steel works means living with two intense sources of environmental pollution. However, a study indicates that the harmful pollution particle matter and nitrogen dioxide disappears in breastfed babies during the first four months of life. According to the results of the research, breastfeeding plays a protective role in the presence of these two atmospheric pollutants.

Exposure to fine particulate air pollution during pregnancy through the first two years of the child’s life may be associated with an increased risk of a child developing autism spectrum disorder, a condition that affects one in 68 children, according to an investigation of children in southwestern Pennsylvania.